Southwinds Sailing June 2004 - Southwinds Magazine

EAST FLORIDA SAILINGJUNE SAILINGBy Roy LaughlinRacingJune is a changeover month for sailboat racers in east Florida.The big regattas such as the Miami-Key Largo race or the MugRace are done. Most local yacht clubs start a summer or weekendseries in June for locals who plan to stay in town for thesummer. Racers will find on every weekend an opportunity torace somewhere within a hundred miles.Only the catamaran fleets stage major regattas alongFlorida’s east coast in June. The Jetty Park Ocean Regatta, June5-6, held at Port Canaveral, in its 31st year, is the grande dameof Florida east coast regattas. It brings catamaran sailors fromall over Florida for two days of ocean triangle races. The DaytonaSummer Sizzler is the other big early summer beach cat regattaon the east coast. This year, Hobie Fleet 80 will hold the event inmid-July to avoid a conflict with Space Coast Catamaran’s 45 x45, which is held June 26-27. This is a 45-mile (one way) weekendrace in the ocean from Cocoa Beach to Vero Beach on Saturdayand the return on Sunday.Many catamaran sailors will associate the 45 x 45 withHobie Fleet 45. That fleet is now part of the Space Coast CatamaranClub. Names change, but the event remains one of thehigh points of summer sailing for local beach cat sailors.Coastal CruisingJune weather gives coastal cruisers and day sailors reasonableability to sail without having to worry about afternoonrains every day. Afternoon rains will begin inland some timebefore the end of June, but usually more slowly, often with lessinitial intensity along the coast. In the meantime, some of thewarmest sailing breezes and most bug-free evenings make Juneday sailing and camping the best of the year.Day sailors and coastal cruisers along Florida’s central eastcoast enjoy some of the most extensive protected deep watersfor sailing anywhere. The best sailing areas are in the IntracoastalWaterway between Daytona and Stuart, but add in theSt Johns River system in North Florida and there is no shortageof achievable weekend adventures throughout the whole area.Spoil islands (the debris of channel dredging decades ago), alongwith a few natural islands are the sailors’ play pens along theIntracoastal Waterway. They all have a different character. Someare little more than sand bars seasonally exposed. Others areheavily wooded, with coquina cobble instead of sand beaches.A few are bird rookeries and therefore off limits to humans.Sailors will smell the difference between a rookery island andany, the others even if no birds or DEP signs are visible.Sailors who are less nature-oriented will enjoy an increasingopportunity for “destination sailing.” Resorts with marinas,or public marinas near chic waterfront communities average20 miles apart across the whole east coast. St Augustineis the best sailing destination along Florida’s east coast andperhaps anywhere in Florida. The nation’s oldest city is hardlythe only waterfront city with such appeal. Stuart, Vero Beach,Cocoa and other cities along the Intracoastal Waterway havecompact, completely walkable old town areas perfect for along weekend on the sailboat without the need to rough it foreven a day. June is the bitter end of the tourist season, so specialrates and prices are a significant inducement for destinationcruising at this time.JUNE UPCOMING EVENTSJune 1 – Atlantic hurricane season begins.June 1 – Mermaid Regatta,. Cocoa Beach YachtClub http://www.cbyc-fl.orgJune 4 – Summer Rum Race #2. Melbourne YachtClub. www.melbourneyachtclub.comJune 5 – Race Series #2. Rudder Club, Jacksonville.www.rudderclub.orgJune 5-6 – Jetty Park Ocean Regatta, CapeCanaveral’s Jetty Park, Space Coast Catamaran Assn(321) 863-4426, mherendeen@bellsouth.netJune 6 – Club Race #6. Fort Pierce Yacht Club.www.ftpierceyachtclub.homestead.com.htmlJune 12 – River Rendezvous and dinner at CaptainKatanna’s Restaurant. East Coast Sailing Associationwww.ecsasail.com.June 12 – Marriott Cruise Fort Pierce Yacht Club.www.ftpierceyachtclub.homestead.comJune 18 – Summer Rum Race #3. MelbourneYacht Club www.melbourneyachtclub.comJune 20 – Father’s Day Race. Melbourne YachtClub www.melbourneyachtclub.comJune 20-21 – Summer Sailstice. Go sailing and celebrate.See “Short Tacks” page 20 for more details.June 21 – Summer Solstice. Longest day of the year.June 26 – River Race #1. East Coast Racing Association.www.ecsasail.comJune 26 – Race Series #3. Rudder Club, Jacksonville.www.rudderclub.orgJune 26-27 – 45 X 45, (ocean distance race: CocoaBeach to Vero Beach and back) Space Coast CatamaranAssn. (321) 863-4426, M.Herendeen@att.netJune 27 – Summer/Fall Race Series #1. IndianRiver Yacht Club. www.sail-race.com/irycBLUE-WATER CRUISING:“LOOK MOM, NO HURRICANES.”Summer blue-water cruisers are either finalizing boat preparationfor the summer cruise, or leaving for the Bahamas andperhaps points farther south. Hurricane season starts in June,but storms are rare, making this the month to get the boatNEWS & VIEWS FOR SOUTHERN SAILORS SOUTHWINDS June 2004 39